


Anomaly

by SocialDisease609



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, everyone in the show is basically in this, post show, spiritual concenption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-03-13 02:06:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3363743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SocialDisease609/pseuds/SocialDisease609
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the help of spiritual forces, Korra and Asami are able to conceive their first child, but during the pregnancy, Asami is captured by new members of the Red Lotus. This causes the remaining members of Team Avatar to assemble again to save Asami, and the world’s first spiritually conceived child, who obviously isn’t just any ordinary child…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in my FF account under the same title and username.  
>  This story is set three years after our glorious canon Korrasami ending, and just so you know, a lot of characters will be present, including some original ones.

**Prologue**

                “I really don’t know what to tell you,” said Tenzin, his soft voice echoing as he sat opposite of Korra and Asami, with Jinora sitting next to him. They had met up with the two lovers in Air Temple Island in a private meditation chamber. The Air bending masters had heard the couple’s requests but weren’t too sure if they had the knowledge required to solve the problem.

                “I know it’s a long shot,” Asami chuckled weakly, but Jinora cold see the sorrow behind the engineer’s eyes, “but we were hoping that maybe we could beat science? I mean, if it truly isn’t possible, Korra and I will just adopt, but we just wanted to try all we could first.”

                “The only way for you and Korra to procreate, given you sexual genders,” Jinora explained soothingly, “would be a spiritual conception. This type of procreation is rare, and is only found in mythological texts…”

                “Mythology does not always equate to history and truth,” clarified Tenzin, watching his daughter think.

                “There are a couple of stories pre-dating the Avatar cycle that mention spirits impregnating their human lovers,” Jinora continued, “However, these conceptions happened with a spiritual body with a physical body…”

                “Are you hinting something?” Korra mumbled, narrowing her eyes.

                “Have you possibly tried having intercourse with Asami while in the Avatar state?”

                Tenzin’s face grew red at his daughter’s words. No matter how professional Jinora’s vocabulary was, no father likes to acknowledge that their daughter is old enough to talk about sex.

                “I’ve tried,” Korra frowned. “I hate it though. I feel like I’m not having Asami and that Raava is. It’s… I get a little jealous.”

                Asami reached for the Avatar’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

                “Maybe that’s why,” said Tenzin, “You need to let Raava take control. If those stories Jinora is mentioning specify a spirit body with a human body, maybe that’s what you need to do to impregnate Asami.”

                “But then it won’t be my child! It will be Raava’s!” Korra shouted, her words resonating in the entire room. The Avatar gritted her teeth and looked away from the Masters. “I’m sorry…” she said finally, but still refused to look them in the face.

                “May I try something?” Jinora asked, still composed. Korra looked up at the young woman and nodded silently. Getting up from her meditative stance, the young Master beckoned Asami to stand as well. “Korra, as the Avatar, you have many powers, and most of them remain undocumented and undiscovered…” Korra rolled her eyes as she remembered a similar speech from Zaheer. “During Harmonic Convergence, you were at one of your highest spiritual forms, and anyone else with bending abilities was enlightened with stronger power too. You even unlocked the lost spiritual energy that released the Air Bending powers for the world … one could say that all those people who were gifted with air bending had the power dormant and suppressed within themselves since birth, but when you unlocked that spiritual energy, their powers were awoken.”

                “Yes, but… if you’re trying to relate unlocking bending to Asami, you should really know better. Asami was unaffected by Harmonic Convergence…” Korra said bitterly. Her lover shot her an angry look, scolding her for her behavior.

                “She may not have unlocked a bending skill, but she may still have been affected by the strong spiritual energy released.” Jinora placed a hand over Asami’s head and closed her eyes.

                “Uhhh…” Korra mumbled, looking at Tenzin.

                “I believe she’s checking her chakras,” the older Master informed, “The average human only has certain energetic limits to their chakras, perhaps Jinora is trying to find out if Asami’s spiritual limit has changed…”

                The younger Master continued to move down Asami’s body, from the top of her head, to her forehead, down to her throat, and kept moving her hand after a few seconds of contact, and eventually made her way down to Asami’s root chakra.

                “Hey!” Korra snapped possessively, watching her lover blush but try to stay still as Jinora removed her hand from Asami’s groin.

                Opening her eyes, Jinora looked at the group with a neutral face, but as they all waited for her to give an answer, she couldn’t help but smile. “Asami’s spiritual and cosmic energy is greater than an average mortal, in fact, her normal biological hormonal energy seems incredibly heightened to.”

                “So are you saying that I just became extra fertile due to Harmonic Convergence?” Asami asked bewilderedly.

                “What a power,” Korra grinned.

                “Indeed,” Jinora said. “She has enough cosmic energy running through her chakras that I believe she can become impregnated by a spiritual being. In mortal procreation, gametes are what are required to conceive offspring, but not only is she fertile, she can become impregnated by your spiritual and cosmic energy, Korra.”

                “Well hold on,” Tenzin said, holding up his hands, “If Asami can carry children of mankind and spiritual beings, what kind of child will she be carrying if Korra can impregnate her?”

                “Well, according to the stories, the children were born looking like normal people, the only thing that made them different was their connection to the spirit world. Nothing more spectacular than an average bender, it seems. The old scrolls never went into full detail, or were left unfished. But I think it’s safe to say that the pregnancy will be a safe one,” The young Master smiled.

                “But that doesn’t explain why I can’t get her pregnant,” Korra said. “Us finding out about Asami’s fertility doesn’t change anything. All it means is that she has been like this since we have been trying to have a child, but I keep failing.”

                “I believe your answer lies in what you have already suspected,” Jinora frowned. “You have to let Raava take over. You cannot impregnate Asami in your physical form simply because you do not have compatible gametes. The only chance you have at Asami carrying your child is if you mate to her physical body with your spiritual one. Raava has to be present.”

                Korra hung her head down in defeat, “Okay then,” she said. “Well thank you, both of you, for your counsel and help,” she bowed to each Master respectively. “If you don’t mind, I will be going to bed early tonight.”

                “Not at all,” Jinora said somberly, returning the courtesy. “Please, rest Avatar. Asami,” she bowed to the heiress as the two women left the chamber.

                After a long silence of walking through the terraces of the temple to make it to their quarters, Asami broke the silence.

“Well?” She asked, looking at Korra’s depressed face. “Korra, I understand how much you want this child to be yours, because I want the same thing. I want our baby to be made from each other, but if you just want to adopt, that’s fine, we don’t have to let Raava into this if you don’t want to.”

“No, no,” the Avatar replied softly, opening the door to their chamber, “We’ll just… we’ll just talk about this in the morning, okay? I’m gonna go throw some water on my face or something. Can you prepare the bed?”

Asami nodded, but looked at her lover in concern. “Yes, Korra,” was all she said, but before letting the Avatar go wash up, she grabbed her by the arm to pull her around. She kissed the Avatar and said as lovingly as Korra had ever heard, “I love you, okay?”

“I love you too,” she said back, just as gently, and slipped from Asami’s embrace to go to the washroom. She turned on the faucet and began to splash cold water on her face, hoping the chill of the water would relax her. Reaching for a towel when she felt the cold water had done its job, she dried her face and watched Asami prepare their bed in the mirror. Asami was too good for her, Korra thought. She loved the engineer so much, she knew she was ready for marriage, but had started talking about children first. How absurd of her- that wasn’t the order of things in society. The Avatar had at least proposed to the heiress, and was accepted, but maybe she was moving too fast for the other woman, but Asami never said anything. Korra’s head filled with negative thoughts, and began to daydream, not realizing that she was watching her lover undress from the mirror.

 _Korra_ … said a voice deep within her. Startled, the Avatar looked at her body to see the faint glow of Raava’s outline under her clothes.

 _Korra…_ came the voice again.

“What, Raava?” Korra answered in a whisper, her jealousy returning.

_I know your struggle. I feel it in you; you cannot hide your emotions from me._

“Who said I was hiding them?” Korra pouted back.

_You must let me be with her. You desire to create a child from your own flesh. I can give you that._

 “You can give me your child, not mine.”

 _Wrong_ , echoed Raava’s voice in her mind, _The child will still be made of your flesh and Asami’s flesh, but the soul will be made of me. It is the only way. The child will need a soul as much as it will need a body. You must consummate with her in the Avatar state. It will not be dangerous for her, I know you fear for her safety, but you must trust me. When she reaches her climax, you must allow me to surface. Only then will we be able to give her the cosmic energy she needs to create your child._

Korra looked behind herself to see Asami already waiting for her in bed, sweetly bundled up in the sheets. The heiress laughed when she caught Korra watching her.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Asami smiled, “I’m cold. Come keep me warm.”

“The child will be mine?” Korra asked Raava in a whisper one more time.

_The child will be ours. Yours, mine, Asami’s. The child will be ours._

With that, almost in a trance, the Avatar walked into the bedroom to join her lover in bed, and kept her warm the best way she knew she could…

 

**The end!! Of chapter one, of course. I know this is just the prologue, but there will be tons of action, drama, adventure, romance, sex, and violence to come in future chapters! Hence the M rating. I live off of reviews, please let me know what you think!** **J**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

                Asami looked down at Korra kneeling between her thighs, trying to calm her breathing as she felt her wife’s tongue press against her center. The sensation shivered through her body as the warm muscle slid up and down her, pressing firmly against her sex. She tangled her fingers into Korra’s hair, subtly pressing her center against her lover’s face to compliment more friction. The world around Asami swirled as the pleasure took over her senses, and hearing her name gently from Korra only drugged her with euphoria even more.

                _Asami…_ “Asami?”

                She opened her eyes and her vision was now registering a bedroom filled with a soft breeze coming from the open window. She shut her eyes in dismay as she came to the realization that she had been dreaming.

                “Sorry, babe, I didn’t know you were taking a nap.”

                Asami looked up from the bed sheepishly to see her wife standing by the door with a mischievous blush spread across her cheeks.  

                “I thought maybe you needed my help with something… I could have sworn I heard my name, but I guess you were just dreaming out loud,” the Avatar smirked, implying something.

                “Did I… did you hear?” Asami questioned nervously.

                “I don’t know why you’re getting so anxious,” Korra said, still smirking as she walked over to the bed and sat down. “We’ve been having sex for years and you still get flustered over things like this. Besides, the doctor did say that it’s completely normal for you to experience sex dreams during pregnancy.”

                “But they’re just so… real,” Asami answered, slowly getting up from the bed. Korra remained sitting and looked up at her wife, then down to her swelling stomach. Her body had changed so much. She was still as beautiful as can be, glowing as many pregnant women do, her hair was more luscious than ever, and her breasts had increased at least a cup size.

                “I can’t believe it’s going to happen soon,” the Avatar said, all joking aside, reaching out to caress Asami’s abdomen; the barrier between her and her child. “You’re due in two weeks…”

                Asami took hold of Korra’s hand and brought it to her lips for a kiss. “I know, and I can’t wait.”

                “You know Bolin is making bets as to what the child is going to be?” Korra chuckled.

                “It doesn’t surprise me,” Asami smiled, “If it’s a boy, are you still okay with…”

                “I have no problem with naming our child after you father if we have a boy. Hiroshi Sato II,” Korra said warmly.

                Asami’s eyes watered, but she wiped the tears away and laughed, “I really, really hope we do have a boy.”

                Standing up from the bed, Korra raised her hand to Asami’s face and pulled her in for a comforting kiss, “Me too.”

               

* * *

 

                The Spirit World was running out of new scenery. Year after year, the map was being filled, and Zaheer had soon begun to venture into uncharted territory. Dark territory. Areas no doubt influenced by the darkness left behind by Vaatu. What more did he have to lose? There was not much he could do with his physical body anyway, after being sentenced to a life of solitary confinement. The only adventures he had left were those in the Spirit World. And today, his spirit stood on the edge of a cliff similar to the ones overlooking the Fog of Lost Souls. Did he dare find out just what lay at the bottom of this dark cavern?

                He started to transfer his spirit further and further down the cliff, telling himself that he could always teleport back to the top as long as he didn’t lose sight of it. When he made it to the bottom, he cautiously walked forward. There were no plants or miniature spirits floating by. Just nothing. Nothing but faint voices. There was an opening inside one of the walls of the cliffs that had a faint glowing light deep within.

                He walked closer and closer to the opening, the voices becoming slightly louder, and to his horror, he saw the source. Deep within the cavern was a line of people, human spirits rather, walking in a single-file line, moving at a deathly pace. Their eyes were fogged, like those of the blind, but they all looked ahead of each other, as if focusing on an invisible doorway. The air bender moved down the line, not touching the hypnotized souls, and listened to catch the words they were mumbling. One, however, caught his eye.

                “P’Li!” He shouted, running towards her catatonic spirit. “P’Li!”

                She did not respond to him, not acknowledge his presence, but kept walking, mumbling the same undecipherable nonsense as the others. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he tried to shake the woman to attention.

                “P’Li, it’s me! Zaheer!”

                She languidly shook him off of her and kept moving with the others.

                _What is this place?!_

                “Hold, spirit!” came an echoing voice in the cavern. “Your physical body has not perished; you do not belong here…”

                Zaheer spun around and looked up at every angle of the dark cavern, looking for the source. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

                “I cannot, mortal, for you have not passed from the physical world in true death. Your spirit will not be able to see me until you have died.”

                “Why can’t she hear me?” He asked desperately, full of anger and hopelessness. “Where are they all going?”

                “This is the gathering of the dark souls,” responded the elusive voice, “Unfit for nirvana, yet by natural order of the universe, must return to earth. Their negligent and evil deeds will be balanced out as the powers of the universe will decide if they are fit to be reborn as humans…”

                “They are going to be brought back to life?” asked Zaheer, in a small glimmer of hope.

                “In other bodies. Other lives. You should know that our universe is centered on rebirth, like the Avatar, and the inevitable battles between Raava and Vaatu, the spirit can never truly be destroyed, but simply reborn in a different light.”

                “When will they be born?”

                “When a human is born…” was all the spirit said. “Children must be made for a soul to be born. But if the universe chooses to reincarnate these souls as animals instead, they will be born there. However, there has been an unanticipated shift in the natural flow of souls… the Avatar has procreated a second spirit, stemming off of her host Raava. This spiritual conception has put a rift in the human reincarnation cycle.”

                “How did she do that?” asked Zaheer, bewildered as his mind raced with his last memory of the Avatar.

                “She had chosen a female lover, and accepted the conditions of a spiritual conception set to her from Raava. They made a child together, but it cannot be filed with a reincarnated soul, it must be filled with a new one… which Raava was willing to provide,” answered the mysterious voice.

                “Does that mean Korra is no longer the Avatar once the child is born? Or that the child becomes a second Avatar?”

                “The universe has not revealed its path,” replied the ambient spirit, “when the child is born… that determines what happens to the natural order.”

                “Can it be stopped?” questioned Zaheer, his mind working fast to comprehend all the information.

                “As any other spirit’s birth can be stopped,” informed the spirit. “Kill the child before birth, and the soul order will resume as it has been balanced for years.”

                Zaheer pondered this information as he watched P’Li’s spirit continue to drag herself with the line.

                “Human,” rose the invisible spirit, “Why do you ask?”

                Zaheer looked up, as if he could look the spirit in the eye, and said “… Can a deal be made?”


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 

                Zaheer had returned to back to the physical world fruitless. The Gatekeeper Spirit of the dark souls’ reincarnation line was incorruptible, and refused to let go of P’Li’s soul under every circumstance. It had tried to inform the air bender that reincarnation was the best option for the combustion bender and that, “ _If you care for this soul so much, you should understand that her having a fresh start at a new life is the greatest thing to happen to her. Being a dark soul, she has to wait longer than light souls to be reincarnated. The universe will judge her from the energy she generated in her previous life. When her energy is balanced, the universe will decide how she will be reborn.”_

_“But I won’t ever see her again,” Zaheer had growled back._

_“Such is the way of life… maybe when you are reborn, you will meet again, but there can be no promises.”_

Angered, his meditation had been disrupted and he found himself back in his bleak stony prison cell. He had read scrolls of ancient libraries in his past mentioning a dark form of magic called necromancy, but how such magic was possible, he did not know. These scrolls did not go into deep description, but surely there had to be a scroll somewhere that would help him understand this spiritual control better, but he’d have to break out of prison to find those pieces of literature, and he was never permitted any kind of reading material by his guards. Surely part of this prison’s strategy was to deteriorate their prisoners’ minds. Maybe he could make friends with a guard… strike up some sympathy…

                “Dinner time!” echoed the voice of a guard outside of the cell. Zaheer heard the footsteps of men approaching, and the screeching of chains on gears. His chains got tighter, and Zaheer let himself descend to the ground for the usual routine. The guards would tighten his chains from a mechanism outside his cell that would make it impossible for him to move his limbs in any way that would enable lethal air bending. Completely restrained, the cell door opened, and one guard walked through as two others stood their ground by the entrance.

                “Rice, as usual,” the guard grinned, placing the bowl by Zaheer’s feet. However, before he stood up, a packet of chopstick quietly slipped out of his sleeve. He gave Zaheer a peculiar look and then turned around to exit the cell. “Breakfast of rice will be served at 7 in the morning,” he laughed as his fellow guards joined him with a smile. The gate closed, the mechanism started cranking and loosening the tension of his chains, and soon the area was quiet once more.

                The prisoner went straight for the chopsticks instead of his food, curious as to why the guard had made the mistake of giving him such a simple weapon, if it was a mistake at all. Peeling the wrapper away, he pulled the sticks out and found what he was looking for. One of the sticks had “ _Long live the Red Lotus”_ inscribed on it in deep black ink, written by a shaky hand.

               

\------------------------------

 

                “That’s what you gotta do,” sighed Bolin with confidence, leaning back in his chair as he held up his bowl of noodles, while Korra contemplated his answer. He took a long sip of the broth from his bowl, relishing in every second of the warm liquid soothing his throat. Every Wednesday, he and Korra would have lunch at the noodle restaurant they had their first outing at, years ago. Wednesday was special to the Earth bender. Wednesday was Bolin-day.

                “You know, you may be right,” the Avatar responded.

                “Yup,” continued the earth bender, “Sometimes the answer is simple. You miss your intimacy- then go get it back. Do the things that used to make you guys feel those _feelings_.”

                “I mean, it’s just a little difficult, though,” Korra kept receding into doubt. “We can’t have usual ‘nights of passion’- Asami is usually uncomfortable with having sex now simply because she’s so close to her due date, and I can’t really take her on adventures anymore. Pregnancy makes a person sensitive- her back aches; she gets crazy heat flashes- I don’t need her passing out.”

                “Wow,” Bolin groaned judgmentally, “You complain so much from someone who _wanted_ her wife to get pregnant.” Korra immediately sat up in her chair ready to defend herself. “I don’t have to be a father to know that pregnancy changes all relationships,” he continued, “But because things change, that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad change. This is one of the greatest changes for any couple. You and Asami are starting a family! And you can’t even procreate on your own! I bet there are plenty of wives and wives, and husbands and husbands, out there who would kill to have what you and Asami were able to do. They wouldn’t let backaches get in their way! So go in there and bring the romance home! Asami is working from home anyway because not even mandated maternity leave could keep her away from her company; Future Industries was her first child, if you think about it. So, buy her a bunch of flowers, organize her favorite dinner and just… you know, love her.”

                Baffled, Korra felt the power of Bolin’s words and the realizations of her own behavior. The earth bender was right. Korra loved Asami, deeply, and would sacrifice anything for her, yet here she was blaming their flickering intimacy on their unborn child.

                “You’re right, Bolin. I’m so ashamed of myself.”

                “Don’t beat yourself up,” Bolin offered, reaching over to pat the Avatar on the back.

                “I’ll do something real special for Asami tonight,” Korra said enthusiastically.

 

\------------------------------

 

                Back in the prison, Zaheer had spent hours staring at the engraved chopstick, and each time he read it, his heart swelled with excitement. This meant that the remaining lower members of the Red Lotus were up to something. Something big if they bothered to make contact and renew his faith in the faction. But now that he was expecting something, time really passed like a snail. However, as if summoned by thought, the same guard from earlier that day had slowly approached the gate of Zaheer’s cell.

                “All the guards are asleep. I drugged their tea,” he said in a whisper that traveled throughout the large desolate cell. “You will not be leaving tonight though.”

                “What is your name, young man?” Zaheer asked calmly.

                “Tao,” replied the guard, “I grew up in Ba Sing Se, the lower ring. When you liberated the Earth Kingdom my life had changed for the better, thanks to you and all the Red Lotus. I saw no better way to show my gratitude and to give myself a chosen path in life than to join your cause.”

                “Tao,” Zaheer said, “I would be a fool to think that you are contacting me just to tell me your personal story…”

                “We are going to free you,” Tao said, “But not yet. I’m pretty sure you’re not aware, but the Avatar has procreated with her spouse, Asami Sato, through Raava. The child has not been born yet, but is still in the non-bender’s womb. It is unclear as to what this child can become, but since Raava is involved, many of us suspect the child could become a second Avatar…”

                “I am aware…” Zaheer nodded, “I was notified through meditation in the Spirit World, not even the spirits know what to anticipate with this birth.”

                “We plan to capture this child,” Tao said, getting straight to the chase. “Just as the Red Lotus tried to capture the first Avatar, we will plan to take this alleged second one.  Perhaps… raise this one…” Zaheer stayed silent, his face remaining reserved, not displaying approval or disagreement with the young Lotus’s plan. “There are more of us now, especially from the Earth Kingdom, a couple fire benders and some water benders. We’re working on recruiting air benders, but they are difficult to infiltrate. As we speak, we have members throughout Republic City looking for the opportune moment to strike. It will be harder to take the child once it is born, so we are working on capturing the mother. Once she is captured, then I’ll come for you. If I take you now, the Avatar will be on high alert of your escape, and security will be even more difficult. We need to do everything we can to make the Avatar forget our existence, for the time being.  We need the element of surprise.”

                Zaheer narrowed his eyes as his mind processed the plan, “Good work…”

 

**I know this chapter is short, but I promise that the next chapters will be better. These scenes were necessary to inform you on the plot before getting straight to the action, you know? A necessary info chapter. As always, I live off of reviews!** **J**

                 


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 

                Korra had spent hours coordinating her impromptu date for her wife. Asami had spent all day reviewing paperwork, napping, signing contracts, napping, holding interviews and scheduling meetings… and napping… Asami’s third trimester was full of exhaustion.  However, her pattern of work and rest had made it fairly easy for Korra to organize her idea of a romantic night at home without Asami finding out. Korra had booked a chef from Kwong’s,  Asami’s favorite high-end restaurant, to make small portions of Asami’s favorite meals and desserts- except for sweetened rice cakes, unfortunately Asami’s favorite snack had made her nauseous during her pregnancy, much to the soon-to-be-mother’s dismay. The Avatar had housekeeping organize a small table by the small fire-pit in the Sato Estate’s luscious backyard, string tiny multi-colored lanterns above them, and commanded that the small phonograph be ready to play records of Mrs. Sato’s most beloved erhu-dominated music. She could’ve hired live musicians, but Korra figured the more intimate, the better. Their romance bloomed better when the two of them were just left alone. They would snuggle up under the stars tonight, wrapped up in one of Korra’s large Southern Water Tribe pelts next to a fire, eating well and just relaxing in each other’s arms. Sounded simple to the Avatar, and Korra had to constantly battle the voice in the back of her head telling her that the preparations weren’t good enough. But tonight wasn’t about overwhelming Asami, it was about getting her to relax and to have the two of them appreciate the intimacy Korra felt was diminishing.

                “Oh! Wait!” Korra shouted after a server, “Take this.” The Avatar handed over a bottle of sake to the worker who responded. “Can’t have alcohol if she’s pregnant, you should know that! Make a tea- safe tea. Ginger tea! … for my wife’s nausea.” The worker went pale at his mistake and took the bottle and disappeared from sight, most likely returning the bottle to the wine cellar beneath the large mansion.

                Hopefully Asami would be pleased…

 

* * *

 

                “You must consider honoring your maternity leave, Madame,” said Asami’s midwife, as she helped her mistress dress in some casual robes, “I understand you do not want to part from your company, but business can be stressful to the baby.”

                “I know,” Asami replied. “It’s just that… I really do not want to trust anyone else running it.”

                “That’s why you have your Board, Mrs. Sato,” the midwife replied gently, “You hand-picked them all because out of all your workers, you saw them best to help you secure Future Industries’ goals.”

                Asami looked down at the young girl quizzically. For just a midwife, this healer from the Southern Water Tribe Korra had hired herself, seemed an awful lot concerned about everything in the heiress’ life. As if reading her mind, the girl continued. “As your midwife, it is my job to learn about you, Madame, and to recognize all your sources of stress, especially those that can end up harming the baby. And with this knowledge, I must soothe your stress and possibly remove you from that environment. I only do this out of concern.”

                “Of course,” Asami nodded, “I know. You’re just doing your job. It’s just that… I’ve never had anyone care about me other than my friends and family. It’s just a little weird feeling that employees care too.”

                The young midwife laughed as she finished helping Asami dress. “Bosses being afraid of their workers? It should be the other way around, Mrs. Sato.”

                “I’m not scared of them!” Asami answered in defense, “I’ve just never bonded with one before.”

                “Well, let’s go meet up with Madame Korra, shall we?” The water tribe girl smiled as she cut the conversation short. “She is waiting for you outside.”

                Outside, Korra was waiting standing by the table, holding her hands together in anxiety, but when she saw her wife passing through the doors, with her midwife escorting her, Korra’s heart skyrocketed to the heavens and back. To the Avatar, Asami was the most beautiful person in the whole world, but every time she had seen Asami place a hand over her swollen belly as she walked towards her, there was no greater beauty in the world than her lover coming to her while carrying her child.

                “Thank you, Sedna,” Korra had said addressing the midwife, as she briskly met up with them, “I’ll take her from here. Please relax inside; there is plenty of food for all the workers in the dining room.” The younger water-bending girl nodded and departed from the two, heading back inside. With one of Korra’s massive trademark grins, the Avatar linked arms with her wife and led her to the table.

                “You’re so adorable,” Asami laughed at Korra’s smile, as the latter held out her chair for her. They had a perfect view of the spirit portal in the distant night sky. “This is beautiful, Korra,” Asami praised, looking at all the perfect dim and colorful lights above them.

                “Thank you,” Korra said, subconsciously puffing her chest with pride, “I’m so glad you like it.”

                “Sit next to me,” came Asami’s gentle voice as she tugged the other chair as close as possible to her.

                The Avatar obeyed her lover, quickly seating herself as close as possible. “Are you chilly? I have a pelt if you need it.”

                “No,” Asami said, still gentle in her tone, “I have you to keep me warm.” The Avatar melted at these words, and wrapped her arms around her wife, transferring whatever body warmth she could. Asami leaned her head on Korra’s shoulders and stared off in the distance in the direction of the spirit portal. “You know,” she said almost in a whisper, “When you went off to battle for Harmonic Convergence, I felt so useless to you…”

                Korra snapped her head to look down at Asami, shocked by this revelation, “Why?”

                Her wife smiled as she reminisced, “Mako and Bolin could serve you just fine with their bending, and I wished I could’ve gone with you, but I started to doubt my usefulness to Team Avatar a lot that year. I tried to hide it, and I guess I did pretty well if you never noticed. Anything I could have offered to you in service had been sabotaged. I could not stand a chance in battle with you against spirits, so I tried to give your father and his army my weapons. I thought ‘this is a great way to aid my Avatar’. That the greatest contribution I could give you would be my technology, in place of my lack of bending. And then when you chose Mako and Bolin to fight with you, I knew it wasn’t personal, but I knew it had everything to do with the fact that I had no spiritual connections, like most benders do, and could not stand a chance while fighting off dark spirits. But when you sent me off to take Jinora to Katara, I knew my task was still an important one, but right before I commanded the bison to take off, I couldn’t help but cry out in my mind ‘why can’t I fight besides you?’ Why do you think, during that Red Lotus mess, that I was taking up every opportunity I had to prove myself to you? I wanted to fight beside you, and protect you while you meditated. I never wanted to leave your side. I wanted you to see that I was more valuable than you thought I was.”

                “But I never devalued you, Asami!” cried the baffled Avatar, “I just… you said it yourself, I couldn’t take you to the spirit world for Harmonic Convergence, it would be too dangerous for you. But just because I didn’t choose you to help me fight off spirits doesn’t mean that I thought you weren’t a valuable member to Team Avatar.”  

                “I know,” Asami softly chuckled, linking a hand with Korra’s. “I know now; now that’ I’m older. I was jealous, Korra. I was falling for you already, but didn’t know that that’s what my heart was feeling. I just knew that I wanted to fight besides you… that somehow, protecting you was a way my heart wanted to prove my worthiness. And then when the Earth Queen’s forces captured us! Spirits, I felt so defeated and useless in that chamber while you were still in the spirit world. I had failed you and I once again fell into the thought that I was not worthy of you, or to be a part of your loyal team, and that when you woke up, you would somehow tell me that I wasn’t good enough to be entrusted to protect you…”

                Korra shook her head in sorrow, the music from the phonograph adding to her emotion, “I obviously remember that day, but I didn’t think that of you one bit.  When I had returned to my body after being tricked by Zaheer in the spirit world, the first thing I saw was the look on your face. You seemed so defeated. I had never seen you that way before.”

                “I was ashamed,” Asami said, “I was killing myself over and over in my head with how I had failed you.”

                Korra leaned over to place a warm kiss on Asami’s forehead before whispering, “You never failed me…”

                Without saying another word, Asami reached out to uncover a platter on the table before them, and as she did so, revealed a plate of steamed dumplings. The aroma travelled quickly and excited the appetite of them both… well, the three of them rather. No doubt the baby was hungry too. Korra watched Asami eat dumpling after dumpling with a cherished light in her eye. Asami’s appetite had naturally increased during her pregnancy, and Korra was inexplicably pleased by it. Perhaps it was an instinctual gratification, knowing that you are keeping your partner and unborn child strong, protected, and looked after.

                “Eat,” gently commanded Asami, as she covered her mouth to chew and speak. Korra tightened her grip around her wife lovingly before pulling her arms away to uncover another dish. This time revealing a mildly spicy beef stir-fry and sticky rice. “Ohhhh, Korra, you did well,” groaned Asami at the sight of the dish.

                “I know what to pick,” the Avatar said proudly. “You probably wouldn’t be able to eat if I cooked.”

                “Your cooking’s not that bad,” Asami offered, picking up a couple of the beef strips with some chopsticks. Throughout the years of them traveling on Avatar business, Korra had often hunted and brought back game or fruits, and the food would actually come out quite delectable. The Avatar’s cooking may not have been five-star cuisine, but it was always filling; cooked and smoked over a fire to a degree that made one feel like they were on just a normal camping trip. In fact, Asami often had cravings for the Avatar’s hunting, and Korra would gladly oblige, ascending to the mountains bordering Republic City to hunt. Those moments almost made Korra feel like she was back in the Southern Water Tribe, and that the two of them lived what would have been a normal life according to her culture. Nothing made her feel more close to home than reconnecting with nature to provide for the family she was building, instead of just going to the store to simply buy a cut of meat from a butcher.

                “Should I have hunted instead?” the Avatar asked with a smile, as she started to eat as well.

                “Mmm,” replied Asami, reaching for more food, “It would have been nice to have both Kwong’s and your cooking.”  Korra playfully scoffed and rolled her eyes. Then, all of a sudden, Asami placed her chopsticks down and froze.

                “Are you alright?” Korra asked, trying not to panic, as she had often overreacted in the past to Asami’s movements.

                “Mhm,” the latter replied, placing a hand on her belly. “Baby’s kicking, that’s all. Probably doesn’t like the stir-fry.”

                “Here,” Korra said, reaching over for the teapot, “Have some tea, maybe that will bring comfort.” She began to poor the warm ginger tea into a small cup and passed it over to her lover with a saucer. Asami took it gratefully and began to take a few small sips, but then set the drink down.

                “I want you to feel this,” Asami said in a soft voice. She grabbed the Avatar’s hand and gently placed it on the area where the baby was making the most movement. Korra’s eyes went wide when she felt the movement against her hand.

                “Spirits,” the Avatar chuckled bewilderedly, “This always freaks me out but makes me happy at the same time.” The two women laughed.

                “I love you, Korra,” Asami said when the moment passed, “and I couldn’t be happier than to start a family with anyone else but you.”

                “I love you too,” Korra smiled, leaning over to kiss her wife softly on the lips. As they pulled away afterwards, the Avatar gazed dotingly on Asami as the engineer didn’t have the strength to fight off a yawn. “Ready for bed?”

                Asami blushed and nodded, “I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have fed me so well,” she said with a small laugh.

                “It’s okay,” Korra said. “Do you want me to have the workers save any of this in the ice boxes?”

                “I don’t mind,” the inventor said, placing a hand on her lower back as she slowly got up from her chair. “Do whatever you want, sweetie.”

                “You should-” Korra was going to ask her to wait for her to return, but since her wife was already determined to make her way to bed, she knew she couldn’t stop her. “Let me get Sedna… let her escort you.”

                Asami exhaled deeply as she stood resting an arm against the table.

                Korra briskly walked back into the mansion and made her way down a few quick corridors to the main dining rooms where she knew all the workers would be. She found the entire housekeeping crew chatting loudly, boasting stories with mouths full of food, gulping from bottles of sake, and hoarsely singing folk songs in unison.

                “Excuse me, everyone!” Korra shouting, making sure her volume was meant to grab attention rather than intimidate. The dining hall went quiet and they all looked at their master, waiting. Sedna was watching too. “Asami and I are done for the night; your mistress wishes an early rest. You can continue feasting if you wish, but I would appreciate it if you would help me perseve the food from our table into ice boxes right now. And Sedna,” she said turning to the midwife, “May you please come with me, I would like you to escort Asami to our bedroom while I help clean up.”

                The young water-bender nodded quietly and got up from her seat to follow her employer. The two of them left the dining hall together as only half of the other workers went into the kitchen storage room to grab boxes for the leftovers. Sedna had her hands grasped to a small pelt bag draped across her shoulder.

                “I’ve never seen that satchel before, Sedna,” Korra said, trying to start friendly small talk. “It looks like it’s from the tribe…”

                “It is…” the young girl answered, “I decided to start carrying medicine and herbs everywhere I go. Just in case Mrs. Sato ever needs anything…”

                “Thank you for looking out for her when I can’t,” Korra started, genuinely grateful. “And while I know that we have some pretty prestigious doctors here in Republic City, I feel like I have to make preparations for my child’s delivery secret. Like if I were to go to a well-known doctor, someone who knows someone would tell someone else and then they could be paid off to harm Asami or my child, you know? I felt like I could trust someone from home, you know? We are so disengaged from many of the threats that are harbored in this city. Who would be safe than my own people?”

                There was no response.

                “Sedna?” Korra turned around to see the young girl standing still paces behind her. “Are you o-”

                Within the blink of an eye, the girl had pulled out a small blowpipe and used it to fire a small dark into the Avatar’s left shoulder. Korra groaned at the small ounce of pain, but her mind raced as her body started to tingle with numbness. She knew all too well what this was. She didn’t need any more evidence and she didn’t have any more time.

                “Help!” she groaned as she sent a blast of fire towards the water-bender, who was all too agile and avoided the assault effortlessly. The Avatar could feel the toxin spreading, but tried willing her body to resist it. She sent another volley of fire at the girl, this time successfully singeing the lower left half of the traitor’s tunic. But there would be no other successful hits after that. Korra’s vision was gone, her limbs became lead, and she was incapacitated on the floor. Her last thoughts of consciousness were of Asami, of her child, and how she, the Avatar- destined to be the strongest person on the planet, had been defeated yet again by something as simple as poison…

               

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Dun, dun, dun! Did Sedna capture Asami too? How did she do it? Will Korra wake up in time? Tune in next time lol. Remember, reviews are food lol feed me. And thank you everyone who has been following this story so far and for reassuring me about my most recent concern (about similar stories). You’re the best! J
> 
> And for those of you who don’t know what an erhu is, it is the instrument we hear ALL OVER the LOK soundtrack. And if it is not the instrument… well then it is an instrument that sounds damn close! Lol
> 
> This: www[.]youtube[.]com/watch?v=dhic2cE57iM


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

                Zaheer had frequently visited P’Li’s phantom-self in the Spirit World, trying to break her from the catatonic spell she was under, by talking of their past adventures, bringing up lovers’ mementos and first memories. Each time he saw her, she moved closer and closer down the line of souls, and the desperate man soon began to painfully accept the fact that there was nothing he could do to ever secure her place in his life again, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted his last memories of her to be her drugged spirit. But there were no positive last memories of her. All he had was that last kiss before imprisoning the Avatar, all the memories after that… he did not want to revisit. Soon, he would never see his love again, and deep in the bottom of his heart, he blamed the Avatar. The Avatar, in general, was aware of their reincarnation cycle- gift he wished he possessed. While the Avatar was made aware of their past lives, decisions, and lovers, everyone who was “normal” lucked out. Many men fear there being nothing after death, others believed in being born again, but feared losing everything they loved. But the universe did not run off of necromancy, and no one was every born the same. Zaheer feared the latter. He did not fear death, but feared never being Zaheer again, and never being able to remember the love of his life and all his cherished memories. He pledged to himself that whenever he was finally broken out of this prison, his first line of business would be to visit one of the ancient libraries around the world to learn more about immortality and necromancy… the man mind and soul was crumbling in his prison, and only held a spreading darkness in his heart, thirsty for love and revenge.

                “What are you-” a shaking voice echoed in the empty prison, and Zaheer opened his eyes from his mediation. It wasn’t meal time, or time for the guards to take his chamber pot… why would they be so close to his cell? He perked his ears to catch more unscheduled sounds and heard the sound of a voice gaging, drops of liquid hitting the dirt floor, followed by the sound of something heavy collapsing. Within seconds, the cell had opened and in dashed Tao, the young Red Lotus double agent. His right hand was covered in fresh blood, and carried a ring of keys.

                “It’s time to go,” said the young man, selecting a key on the ring and unlocking all of Zaheer’s shackles. The air-bender’s limbs felt foreign to him without the weight of his chains. “The abduction is successful, but our agents are still trying to safely relocate our target.”

                “How was this achieved?” Zaheer asked, rubbing his wrists.

                “We had planned this for quite some time. Everyone knew that the Avatar and her spouse were trying to procreate, and just in case they were successful, we had planted a young water bending healer in the Avatar’s life. It is no surprise that the Avatar values her current culture of the Water Tribes, so picking a water tribe healer as her partner’s midwife was something we saw coming. We trained her ruthlessly, then had her pretend to be a novice and be a student to the water-bending master Katara. With her skills, she obviously impressed the older woman, and fell for our plan and recommended our Sedna to watch over the Asami Sato during her pregnancy. Sedna has successfully sedated the Avatar, captured Asami, and has met up with other members who will help extract her to our rendezvous point.” Tao excessively explained, as he beckoned Zaheer to quietly follow him out the cell.

                “What of the other guards?” the prisoner asked, as they passed by a sentry who was dying on the floor. He was slumped against the wall, his neck heavy over his chest, as blood flowed out of an open wound on his neck and drenched his tunic.

                “I sedated them with tea as last time.”

                “And the reason why this unlucky man had his throat slit instead of being drugged?”

                Tao couldn’t fight the proud smirk that grew on his face, “There was no other way. Besides, it will send a signal. The Red Lotus needs to be taken seriously by the world. They need to know of our return.”

                “The chances of our mission succeeding are best done in discretion,” Zaheer said calmly, but shook his head in disappointment. “It is better for the Avatar to not know who took her wife and child. We should not supply any leads. Hopefully you didn’t use methods to carry out the abduction that would make it obvious to the Avatar.”

                “When you killed the Earth Queen, that was for a message-” Tao started, but Zaheer interrupted.

                “You have your target, there is no need for additional signals. The goal is the child growing in Asami Sato’s womb, not the Avatar.”

                Tao snarled in response as they continued to make their way through the prison. Soon they crossed the guard barracks, where Zaheer saw out of the corner of his eyes the drugged guards. No one should know of his escape. If he left them to sleep, soon a search party would be out for him and Tao. Not caring about Tao’s message, the air-bender quickly removed the air from all their lungs, as Tao watched in disbelief.

                “Just make it quick!” Tao grumbled, and intervened, metal bending the beams off the guards’ bunks, and dropping them down on the suffocating bodies, piercing the men through their armor. “There, now they’re all dead, you happy?”

                Zaheer kept himself composed, feeling the anger build up inside him at this arrogant man. “Let’s go…” He hopped the rest of the remaining members of the Red Lotus weren’t like this…

* * *

 

                Meanwhile, back in Republic City, Avatar Korra was woken up by a familiar voice.

                “Korra! Korra! Are you okay!”

                The Avatar weakly opened her blue eyes to see an amber-eyed man staring down at her. “She’s coming to!” he said, addressing other people in the room, who soon crowded around them. What was going on?

                “Mako?” Korra asked groggily.

The man nodded sympathetically. “Don’t worry, Korra, we’ll find her.”

                “Move out of the way!” commanded an authorative voice, and soon Lin Beifong pushed all the other people out of the way so she could look over too. Standing over the kneeling Mako who tried to help Korra to her feet, the Chief of Police began her job. “Korra, what do you remember happening before you passed out?”

And then it came back to her.  

                “Asami!” Korra screamed, having trouble scrambling to her feet, “Oh, Spirits, please…” she begged as she tried to stumble down the hall to find the backyard entrance. “Someone…”

                “Korra,” she felt Mako reach for her to pull her back, but the Avatar simply used him to stabilize herself.

                “Mako, someone has to check on Asami…” Korra’s voice cracked as she felt the tears forming in her eyes. “The baby…”

                “Korra,” he said again, just as gently, “Korra, they’re… they’re not there. They’re nowhere on the property.” The Avatar’s knees buckled and her grasp on her friend’s shirt tightened.

                “No…” she whispered, shutting her eyes tight as a tear made its way down her cheek.

                “We’re looking for them, Korra. BOLOs were put out immediately and issued a city-wide lockdown. The whole city is on the look-out,” Mako reassured, in his typical police-protocol ways. “We have many witnesses amongst your housekeeping staff, but we need your account of the attack.”

                “I… I,” Korra tried to form words, but her heart was overwhelmed. She had failed her new family and now, they were facing who knows what kind of dangers; and no one could want to abduct Asami and their child without having malicious motives in mind.

                “You can do it, Korra,” Lin said, keeping composed. Someone had to stay collected and clear-headed.

                “Sedna must have taken her,” Korra whispered, finally finding her voice. “The midwife I hired. She attacked me as we were returning to Asami.” Her mind replayed the assault in a split second, and the Avatar grimaced at the memory. “She poisoned me… the same way Zaheer and his group did.”

                Mako exchanged a look with Lin, whose face fell as they shared the same thought.

                “No one has to tell me who did it…” Korra said. “It was the Red Lotus. The Red Lotus kidnapped my wife and child.”

                “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Mako said, “We’ll definitely start an investigation and ask Zaheer some questions. He may not know about this particular event, but he could possibly give in to telling us all he can about the Red Lotus. There is still a chance that this could be the work of a completely different faction.”

                “When he was first imprisoned, he and his entire inner circle never said a word. Do you really think he’ll speak now?” Lin asked.

                “He revealed a lot to me once when I encountered him in the Spirit World, and while the information he gave me was valid, it was only done to buy his team time and distract me,” Korra said, her grip on Mako getting tighter. “But he did help me reconnect with Raava and find Jinora. Perhaps he will help…”

                “It’s worth a shot,” Mako said with a weak smile. “Right now, we’ve got to take you to the hospital okay? And then, Lin will fill out your official report. I’m going to help continue the search.” He slowly handed Korra over to Lin.

                “Don’t worry, Korra,” Lin said, “When we find this Sedna and her accomplishes, I’ll let you rough ‘em up bit, off the record.”

 

* * *

 

                “Wake up…”

                Asami slowly opened her eyes and found herself in a bleak stone chamber. She felt a throb in the back of her skull. Slowly sitting up on the edge of the bed she had been placed on, she heard something clatter by her feet. She looked down and saw that she had chains wrapped around each ankle, and that the end of the chain was bolted down to the floor next to the bed.

                “It’s time for your vitamins,” continued the voice. Asami looked up and saw Sedna standing not too far from her by a metal door, the only entrance to the room.

                “Where am I?” Asami demanded, trying not to panic and maintain any source of intimidating power she had available.

                “You are in a holding cell,” was all Sedna had replied. She walked towards Asami and handed her a wooden cup of water and a pill. “Now take your vitamin.”

                “Why should I take anything from you again?!” Asami snapped. “As far as I know, you could be poisoning me.”

                “I wouldn’t do that,” said Sedna. “I never truly worked for you, yes, but my job is still to take care of you and make sure that you safely deliver your baby.”

                “Who do you work for then?” Asami probed, still not reaching for the cup or medicine.

                “The Red Lotus,” Sedna answered steadily. “You’re a very smart woman, Mrs. Sato, so you should know that we have no interest in you, but in your child. You are only here until you deliver the offspring. After that, our leader will decide if and how to dispose of you.”

                “You care so much about me delivering this child that you knocked me out in the back of my head.” Asami snapped, recalling the attack in the backyard of her home.

                She saw Sedna roll her eyes at the comment. “That wasn’t me,” she said defensively. “The rest of the extraction team isn’t as knowledgeable about pregnancy like me. Believe me, I know not to add physical stress to a pregnant woman. We’re lucky that didn’t seem to affect the child. The idiot who hit you is just a brute who was excited to finally execute the mission. She’ll be having a word with our leader soon.” She held out the cup and pill once more, and met peaceful resistance as Asami kept her hands on the side of the bed. “Well, if you care about your child, you’ll take that when you’re ready. I doubt you’re the kind of woman to let her baby die because she’s too stubborn to comply.” She set the cup on the floor, since there was no end table, and put the pill on Asami’s pillow. “Don’t want that touching the dirty floor, do we?” Sedna smiled and started to walk to the metal door and knocked on it once. The door was opened by another member outside the cell. “I’ll bring lunch in a couple hours. I expect you to eat.” With that, she stepped out of the room and the door slammed shut, the sound of metal against the rock walls ringing in the pregnant woman’s ears.

                Asami quickly began to scan the room for anything that could be of use as a weapon, a way out, or an indicator to her location, but her captors had been thorough. She had a bed made of a steel frame, a decent mattress, and old woven blankets, a wooden chamber pot one corner, and three antique books piled in another corner. However, above her was a small barred window that showed the night sky. It was about the size one of the books in the corner, and probably only served as ventilation. Hopefully it wouldn’t rain soon. That was it. Nothing else. She would go insane in this room before she delivered her child. Her heart rate started to pick up as she began to realize the helplessness of her situation and prayed that somewhere out there Korra was meditating hard to pick up her spiritual energy and find her.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yayy! I finally updated lol Thanks for sticking around and I hope you like this transitioning chapter. Just so you know… the birth will be soon, so stick around for that ;)

**Chapter 5**

Asami’s mind drifted from the world as she attempted meditation. Korra had spent many hours in the past trying to teach her the art, but she often had trouble clearing her mind. It almost seemed impossible to clear one’s mind of completely everything. If Asami ever accomplished clearing her mind, it would only last a second or two before her thought process returned to industrialist dreams. Her mind was always constantly inventing or improving something. But now, for the past two hours, Asami had desperately attempted again and again, hoping that her spiritual energy would somehow find its way to Korra.

                “Get up!” commanded a woman. Asami peered open her eyes and saw three women walk into her cell. Among them was Sedna. “We’re moving.”

                The woman who spoke was a young girl among Sedna’s age, most likely 17, who had short black hair up in a bun, and her eyes were of a golden hue. Asami suspected her to be a fire bender.

                “Where are we going?” Asami asked, as Sedna helped her stand up.

                “Somewhere new,” the fire-bender smiled, “We’re gonna be constantly on the move until you have that baby. Staying in the same place for too long is a bad idea.”

                “I shouldn't be traveling so much,” Asami said, playing the delicate-pregnancy card.

                “You have a point, but that doesn’t matter,” the girl replied. “We’ll be going by truck, so you’ll be all snug in a seat. Like you’re going to be in a plane or walk on foot. We’re not even gonna take one of the air bison we stole.”

                “Yume,” Sedna said in a soft warning voice.

                The fire-bender girl sighed. “Apparently even our useless information is confidential for you.”

                “Come here,” Sedna said solemnly to Asami. The pregnant woman listened and approached her midwife. Sedna reached into her bag and pulled out a blindfold, and immediately covered Asami’s eyes with them.

                “Can we take the books?” Asami asked politely. “Instead of keeping me blindfolded in the truck, can I at least have something to read?”

                Yume shrugged. “Sure, why not. Pick ‘em up, Tzu.” Asami didn’t have to have her vision to know this was directed to the third woman who had arrived in the room with Yume and Sedna.  With the help of her midwife, Asami made her way through the compound and outside, where she felt the cool breeze of the free world caress her form. Then she heard the start of an engine and knew that it was time to go, and that the Red Lotus was going to do their best to lead her wife on a scavenger hunt across the world.      

* * *

 

               Korra sat in the middle of the Sato master bedroom meditating. She had sufficiently recovered from her emotional breakdown earlier, and while she wasn’t an emotional wreck, she was now a collected individual… with revenge sitting silently in her soul, hidden from her friends’ notice.

              She could gather small pulses of Asami’s energy, and she knew that her wife had the same idea. Asami may not have been an avid meditator, but she could do enough for Korra to find her in most situations. However, the Avatar’s meditative powers had been stunted, as she expected it had been because of the poison still circulating in her veins. She knew her body would eventually destroy the toxins, but right now, her body was still healing and it would be quite some time before she would be in her spiritual prime once more. She couldn’t pinpoint anyone’s exact location anymore, just senses of their energy- like a dog having a scent, but losing the trail.

             “Raava,” she whispered in her mind. “Find them. My child has you in their soul. Find them.”

             The spirit remained quiet for a couple of minutes before the celestial voice of Raava echoed inside her. “I cannot unless you give me full control. Like you, I can only sense them. Let me control your body and I will lead us in the right direction.”

             “Korra!” exclaimed a male voice.

             Korra woke from her mediation to see Mako standing in the doorway. His face wore nothing but bad news. She stood up and approached him.

             “Zaheer’s gone, isn’t he?” she asked.

             Mako nodded. “He escaped. He must have received help from a rouge guard. It is the only explanation. We received word from the investigative team that we dispatched to his prison that all the guards had been murdered. All but one. According to the registered payroll, a man named Tao is the only guard who wasn’t found killed with the others. There’s a possibility that the guard was taken hostage, sure, but that is a very slim chance. We are working with Wu to acquire a record of him, as Tao’s employee account says he’s an Earth Kingdom native.”

             Korra nodded, reminiscing on how Wu had abdicated his throne-right, but was elected as the Earth Nation’s Census Clerk, and had access to all the citizen records.

            “It’s okay,” Korra said. “I’ll find them.” Her voice was deep and powerful, filling the fire=bender with suspicion.

            “You’re not going alone, Korra. You’re not gonna enter the Avatar State and travel straight to them,” Mako placed a hand on Korra’s shoulder, ushering he rout of the room and down a flight of stairs to the main lobby of the estate. That level of the home was bustling with officials and familiar faces. Bolin, Tenzin, Jinora, Ikki, Opal, Suyin and Lin were all crowded around each other discussing something adamantly. Even Kai, Varrick, and Bataar Jr. were present.

            “What are they all doing here?” Korra asked, more hostile than she intended.

            “Korra,” Tenzin spoke, when the crew recognized her presence. “The last time you faces the Red Lotus alone you almost died. This time, whether you like it or not, we’re entering battle with you. Side by side. We will get them back, but we have to do this together.”

            Korra sighed, knowing that her mentor was right. No matter how empowered a personal vendetta makes you feel, anger does not make you strong or guarantee you victory. It makes you vulnerable to being unprepared and overwhelmed. “Then let’s leave as soon as possible,” Korra said. “We head east. That’s where I feel her presence the most.”

 

* * *

 

                The drive had been long and bumpy, but the wobbling of the truck and the humming of the engine had actually lulled Asami into a delectable desire to close her eyes and sleep. But she fought the urge and kept her eyes focused on the book in her hands. She needed to gather as many clues as possible as to where she was, where they were going, and where she had left. Yume had proven to be a talkative one, and Asami had hoped that the fire-bender would unintentionally drop hints in her conversation with Sedna. Asami contemplated the chances of survival if she was able to escape from their second location. Would Korra be able to find her in time? She would be due soon, and Asami wondered what would be better for her child: giving birth on her own in the wilds if she had escaped, or letting Sedna help her deliver the child among the Red Lotus.

                “Alright, we’re here.” Yume said as the truck came to a stop. Sedna reached in her bag and blindfolded Asami once more before the truck doors opened. She held onto her midwife’s hand and the traitorous water-bending healer slowly and gently led her out of the cab of the truck. Sedna wrapped an arm around Asami’s waist for secured support, leading the pregnant woman more effectively as the four of them walked towards another mountainside Red Lotus sanctuary.

                Asami couldn't see her surroundings, but she knew that this place was more secured than the previous, as they made multiple stops to pass through heavily mechanically-controlled metal doors the screeched from being pulled on chains and gears when lifted, and left a deep vibration throughout the floor and into one’s body as they dropped down to the ground. She heard the collected voices of others, hushed conversations as unknown people watched her blindingly pass by. This location must have been highly populated by Red Lotus members. Asami had counted at least fifty different voices.

                She passed through a door once more and as it came thundering down, Asami felt Sedna’s fingers against the blindfold and she could see once more. These quarters were similar to the previous room, with one exception. The walls were completely metal. She had a traditional bed in one corner, more books in another corner, and a small window against a wall that had been secured with bars.

                “All the metal you see in here,” Yume started, tapping the walls with her nails, “its platinum. So if your lover makes it in this compound, she’ll have some trouble getting through to you.”  Asami ignored the comment and let Sedna lead her to the bed.  

                There were slow footsteps approaching the door, and all the women turned to see who their visitor was. The faces of Asami’s captors went pale as they slowly backed away from her and bowed to the man standing at the door.

                Asami had a feeling he looked familiar, but the man before him was an interesting sight to see. He had tan skin and long black hair tied up, his black beard groomed by a delicate hand, yet his face was covered in scars. He leaned into a cane with his right arm to support a limp, while his left arm… well, it must have been amputated years ago because there was no limb to be seen. His face twitched with the suppression of a smile as his eyes took in the faces of all the women.

                “Master,” greeted Sedna, breaking the silence. “We have successfully relocated our target… as you can see.”

                The man nodded and began to walk towards them in his staggering manner. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a loyal servant of the Avatar. I bet you thought you got rid of us all…” he said in a rough voice, “I didn’t think you would be the one to end up with her.” He eyed Asami, looking her up and down before settling his gaze on her abdomen. “How much longer?”

                “Any day now,” Sedna answered, “She is due next week, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we experience an early delivery, given all this recent… stress.”

                The man nodded and turned to walk out of the chamber. “When she delivers the baby, give it to me immediately. Leave her to bleed out. We won’t need her after it is born.”

                “We shouldn’t do that-” blurted Sedna. Everyone turned to look at her and the young girl blushed at her interjection. “If we succeed at our plan, we should at least keep her for a couple of months. Nothing will be better for the survival and growth of the child than having the milk from her mother. We should keep her…”

                The man eyed Sedna suspiciously as the girl maintained composed eye contact with her master.

                “ _If_?” he stressed. “We _will_ succeed. I will think on it. You may have a point.” He continued to walk out of the chamber. “Make sure Mrs. Sato is at home, sisters. We need her to be as comfortable as possible… for a prisoner.”

                “Yes, Master Ghazan,” the women bowed in unison.

                Asami’s eyes widened at the name as her brain placed the scared face and damaged body with the face of the lava-bender she, Bolin, Tenzin, and Mako almost died by the hands of. How had he survived being in a caved in mountain?

                “Ghazan?” She finally stuttered.

                “Oh yes,” Yume smirked, “It’s a long story…”


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been like two months since I updated! Lol I am sorry, but you know how life is. School + work... not much time for FF writing. Thanks for sticking around. Here you go! Enjoy!

            “How did he survive?” Asami asked, as Sedna handed her a small wooden bowl mixed with some kind of stew and rice. It had been hours since she had been revealed to Ghazan’s presence, and since Sedna had appeared alone, Asami knew that this was the best time to get information out of the girl.

            The midwife raised an eyebrow in annoyance as she observed Asami’s still hands cupping the bowl. “Eat, and I will tell you,” she said.

            Asami nodded and began to scoop some of the stew out with a matching wooden spoon. Sedna may have been one of her captors, but she still cared about Asami’s health, so Asami knew that an unspoken deal could be made between them: obedience for intel. As long as Asami followed Sedna’s care, Sedna would be more open.

            “The day Zaheer had almost defeated Avatar Korra, Ghazan was battling your friends inside the temple. Unwilling to accept defeat, he had caved in the temple space, in order to kill his opponents with him. However, while bringing down the walls, he had bent an earthen shelter, hoping that maybe he could still survive in this act of self-destruction. The force and mass of the boulders in the collapse was too strong for his impromptu shelter, and collapsed most of his protection as well. While the rest of the Avatar’s followers, including the Air Benders, went outside the temple to watch the infamous duel between Zaheer and Raava’s conduit, many of the surviving Red Lotus members and servants launched an emergency rescue mission. They searched as quickly as they could to bring _our_ wounded to safety. It was Tzu who sensed him. Tzu… she’s the other girl who you saw with me and Yume… she’s an earth bender. She sensed Master Ghazan and rallied all the earth-benders they had on hand to dig him out as quickly as they could, since they did not know if the members of the Avatar’s following would return to the temple after the battle. When they finally freed him, he was in bad shape. His left arm had been practically obliterated by a boulder that had fallen on him while he was bending his shelter, and his face was so bloody and torn, he had small flaps of skin hanging off his face from where the sharp chips of rocks shattered from all the boulders and debris. He…” Sedna stopped, and watched Asami feed herself another bite. “I shouldn’t be talking about such gruesome injuries while you eat. You’ll lose your appetite.”

            “Oh no, it’s alright really,” Asami said reassuringly, her wooden spoon practically scrapping the bottom of the bowl already. “I have been really hungry for a while, I’ll finish. I bet, I bet he became leader of the order simply because he was one of the last remaining leaders of the failed operation?”

            “Yes,” Sedna answered, uneasy. “Zaheer was our leader, but he got arrested. P’Li was second in command, but she fell in battle. Ghazan was next in line. Ming Hua was supposed to be his successor… but I’m sure you heard what happened to her.” Sedna practically snatched the bowl away from Asami when she realized that she had finished eating, and began to walk back to the cell door. She knocked on it twice before Asami heard gears on the other side screeching as the door was lifted open. “I will not see you again until the morning, Mrs. Sato,” Sedna addressed in a professional tone, “If you feel the baby coming tonight, yell for help.” And with that, the heavy platinum door dropped behind the water-bender and Asami was left alone in her cell.

* * *

 

            They had set out immediately, as Korra had demanded, and had taken two adult Air Bison for the journey. Korra reigned one, with Mako, Bolin, Varrick, and Beifong in the large saddle, while Tenzin, Jinora, Kai, Opal and Suyin took the other. Korra’s eyes remained determined on the horizon, and everyone could hear how the Avatar struggled to keep her breathing steady, as each exhale sounded heavy with rage, like a bull ready to charge. Mako watched her cautiously.  

            “Hey, don’t worry, buddy,” whispered Varrick, slapping Mako gently on the shoulder. The detective turned to look at the overconfident inventor. “If she fires off into the Avatar state, leaving us in the dust, we can still find her. I have been working on a tracking device, and put the prototype on her betrothal necklace when she took a shower. She uh, she obviously takes it off when she showers. But yeah, it’s small enough to blend in with all the other charms. I have the tracker display in my bag. It will show everywhere she goes. So if she flies off, we’ll find her… eventually.”

            Mako knew Varrick meant well, and it probably was their best way of keeping track of Korra if she took off, but in the pit of his stomach, he wanted to make sure she always stayed in his sight because any second where Korra was away from the group increased her chances of being overtaken, just how she was the last time they all faced the Red Lotus. He knew he couldn’t live with himself if he let her be put into such a deadly situation alone again. He just hoped that they all would be in range of support this time.

            He wanted to say something, anything to bring Korra back to the current moment, but he knew that there was no saving her now. Her mind would never leave the mission. Not until she killed every last one of them who took her family from her.

      

* * *

     

            Meanwhile, back in her cell, Asami felt that something was not right. Something was going to happen. She couldn’t describe it. She felt strong, yet she felt drained, she felt clumsy, and her joints felt very loose… and she felt pain. A pain that tugged at a particular instinct. Slowly, Asami walked towards the door of her cell, and weakly called out for her midwife.

            “Sedna!” she called out, afraid for some reason that projecting her voice too high would increase her bizarre symptoms.

            No response.

            “Sedna!” she called again, this time the anxiety shaking her voice just a bit. Just when she was about to open her mouth to shout again, she heard footsteps down a hallway, and hurried voices. Routinely, Asami stepped away from the door, and Sedna pushed through it seconds later. She had a large satchel bag hanging over her shoulder, and her face couldn’t hide her own anxiety. The two women made silent eye contact for a brief moment, before Sedna gently grabbed Asami’s arm to begin escorting her to the bed.

            “I’m going to examine you, okay?” Sedna began, “You’re very close to your delivery, so any case of uncomfortable symptoms has to be check-” before the midwife could finish, she looked down at their feet, and Asami froze as she knew exactly what had just happened. She felt it, but was too scared to look down. “Your water,” Sedna said, “… it broke.”

            It was time. It was time and Korra was not here. Their first child would be born into a hostile environment, stolen to be murdered or raised in evil.

            “No,” Asami said in denial, as Sedna sat her down. “It’s not time.”

            “Yes it is,” Sedna breathed shakily. “Help!” she shouted down the hallway from Asami’s cell, “It’s time!” Asami could hear the shuffling of the guards outside, and soon Yume and Tzu appeared, carrying a pail of water and a basin, as well as fresh linens. They began to assist Sedna in propping Asami up in the preferred child-birthing position, while Asami still mumbled her disbelief. Her heart pounded in fear. She had to relax and focus on one thing at a time. _Korra is coming, Korra is coming, she’ll be here soon…_ her mind repeated over in over in an attempt to calm her. She felt her skin get warmer by the second, and her breathing quickened.

            “Asami, Asami,” came Sedna’s voice, cooing gently as she applied a cool, damp towel to Asami’s forehead. “I need you to focus on breathing calmly, okay? Everything’s going to be just fine. We have plenty of time ahead of us, okay? Just because your water broke doesn’t mean the baby is going to arrive right now. We have some time, relax. We’re going to help you through this, okay? You’re going to do just fine.”

            “My child,” Asami whispered, “Don’t let them take my child…”

            Sedna’s brows furrowed in sympathy. “Don’t worry,” she whispered back, so soft that Asami had to strain her ears to just pick up on her words, “I won’t let them hurt the baby. Or you.” She continued to soothingly apply the cool towel to Asami’s glowing skin, and succeeded in relaxing the mother-to-be.

            “It’s a damn good thing we enlisted a midwife, huh?” Yume chuckled in relief, feeling the need to lighten the tension. “What would we have done without you?”

            Without turning around, Sedna assumed a voice of authority, saying “Inform Master Ghazan that Mrs. Sato is in labor. It will be a couple of hours…”

            Yume nodded in obedience and left the room, leaving Asami alone with Sedna and the silent Tzu.

            Sedna lulled Asami to peace, “Everything is going to be just fine, everyone is going to be safe…”

 

* * *

 

            It had been a couple hours alright. From her small barred cell window, Asami had watched the sun set, and now, it was pitch black outside, save for a few twinkling stars. At first, having time soothed Asami, but now, it just frightened her. The more time that passed, the closer it meant to the birth, and now, her contractions were beyond relief, and she was soaked in sweat.

            “Alright, we’re going to try pushing now, okay?” Sedna said, in her professional calm voice. She had readjusted Asami to the edge of the bed so that she could sit between her open legs, ready to help the baby make its way through.

            Asami was absolutely terrified. Naturally, like any other woman, she had dreamed of giving birth in a good hospital, surrounded by prestigious doctors and nurses, and having the love of her life hold her hand in support. Yet her she was, in a cool dark cell, surrounded by curious members of the Red Lotus, waiting for the moment to steal her baby away, and no one to hold her hand in support; just quick gentle caresses at her ankles by Sedna, who, to be honest, had no other means of calming Asami down. She was the only one trusted to help deliver the baby, but she knew Asami was terrified, so all she could do while she sat between Asami’s legs was to softly rub her ankle or calf muscle for a second or two.

            “Focus on breathing, and the sound of my voice, okay?” Sedna said louder than usual, as Ghazan had limped into the room. Everyone was here now, even servants. Who wouldn’t want to see the historical birth of the Avatar’s child?

            “I can’t,” Asami pleaded weakly, grunting after another contraction seized her body. Sedna shifted uncomfortably and turned her head over her shoulder.

            “Essentials in the cell only!” She shouted. “Too many people in this room! I need you to leave, you’re overheating the cell.”

            Ghazan nodded at this, ushering everyone else out of the cell, so that only he was the only spectator, along with Yume and Tzu. The others waited outside the cell excitedly.

            “That’s better,” Sedna breathed, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. “Alright, Asami, you can do this. Push!”

            Asami screamed as she felt her muscles contract.

            “You can do this! Come on, it’ll be over soon. Once that baby comes out, you’re going to feel so much better. Trust me! Come on!” Sedna coached.

            Asami attempted again, this time feeling the baby move inside her as she successfully pushed.

            “Good! Good, keep doing that, but don’t forget to take a moment to breath, okay?”

            After a deep breath, Asami pushed again, letting out a loud, harsh and strangled cry that made Ghazan go pale.

            “Amazing, Asami. You’re doing great, I can see the baby’s head. You’re almost done. Come on, push again.”

            Asami’s cries of pain were too much for the Red Lotus master. His face never recovered its natural tone, and he looked sick to his stomach.

            “Don’t watch the baby come out,” Yume suggested. “It’s not so bad if you don’t watch the baby pass through.”

            Ghazan shook his head in disgust, and probably sympathy, and shouted “Sedna! When the baby is born, bring it to me. I will be in my quarters.”

            Sedna did not turn around, just shouted “Yes, Master!” as she continued to guide Asami. With that, Ghazan departed, leaving just Asami’s captor team present.

            “Come on, Asami, the baby’s head is through. Just a push more or two and you’ll be done,” Sedna said softly, watching Asami cry, tears streaming down her face as she gritted her teeth. “You’re almost done, you’ve done so great, you’re strong, you can do it.”

            Asami’s head fell back as a deep earth shattering scream tore from her throat. It vibrated through everyone’s body, as everyone watched in anticipation and pity. She was suffering, as was expected for giving birth, but not a single soul in that wing of the sanctuary did not pity her at that moment.

            “Push! Push!” Sedna motivated. One last scream. That was it. Asami cried to the heavens for deliverance one last time… and it was over. The room was silent. And then… a new cry filled the room. It was a sharp and high-pitched cry, accompanied by a quick hiccup, and it traveled through all the witnesses too.

            “My…” Asami breathed, holding herself up weakly with her elbows, “My baby… please let me see…”

            “Hold on,” Sedna said gently, snipping the umbilical cord off the child. Her midwife’s hands and forearms were splotched in blood and fluids, and Asami could only imagine the massacre of the sheets underneath her. The baby had stopped crying, but everything must have still been alright since Sedna’s expression or motivation didn’t change.

            Sedna looked up to Asami and smiled brightly. “You did great,” she said. Asami was so grateful for Sedna. She may have been one of her captors, but she was the only one she knew she could trust at the same time… ironically.

            “Come on,” Yume barked, taking the baby from Sedna’s arms.

            “Hey!” shouted Sedna, standing up to reclaim the child, but Yume was too quick.

            “We have to take the baby to Ghazan. Now.” Yume said, hastily wrapping the child in a blanket.

            “No, wait! What about Asami? She needs to see her child!” Sedna pleaded.

            Asami’s head was swimming. She was overcome with emotion.

            “Let me hold my child,” she said, her voice breaking. “Even if just once…”

            Yume took one look at the worn and weakened Asami, then back to Sedna.

            “Ghazan. Now.” Yume turned on her heels and passed through the crowd at the entrance of the cell, leaving Sedna and everyone else to scramble after her.

            “Wait!” Sedna shouted after her down the hall.

            Soon, the commotion became echos, and Asami couldn’t support herself anymore. She slumped down on the bed and felt her vision darken, but was able to see, right before she closed her eyes that her cell was left open...


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finals are over. Thank you for being patient lol

            There was a change in the energy circulating through the world. The wind carried it, the animals retreating to shelter as the sun set acknowledged it with ominous silence, and Raava radiated through Korra’s body.

            The Avatar’s company watched, astounded, at this random transformation into the Avatar State. There wasn’t an enemy in sight as they kept to the skies on their Air Bison, and they felt the hair on the back on their necks prickle at the possibility no one wanted to voice.

            Breaking the tension, Bolin reached over to softly touch the radiating Avatar on her shoulder. “Korra?” he began carefully. The Avatar sat still on the saddle, not acknowledging Bolin’s touch. “Korra,” he tried again. Still no response. He looked behind himself to the crew, everyone looking back in anticipation, clearly not willing to be so bold as to touch the Avatar in this most delicate state. “You’ve found them, haven’t you?” he asked, turning back to Korra, getting straight to the chase. “Have you found Asami and your child?”

            “Our child…” Korra’s voice boomed as Raava’s tone over-laced hers, the combination of the two voices resonating power. Korra remained still in her seat, the reigns loosely in her hands, and breathed deeply. “I can only sense our child…”

            “Korra,” came Mako’s voice, who cautiously began to approach the Avatar and his brother. “Tell us where they are. We can find them together.”

            The Avatar turned to face him, her eyes glowing fiercely. She surveyed the rest of the company silently, and Mako wondered if it was Korra or Raava he was speaking to.

            “There is no time,” said the divine voice, calm yet authoritative. “Your service is appreciated, but I cannot succeed with your help. You are an anchor.”

            Mako bit the inside of his cheek to keep him from objecting. This was all Raava. Korra had lost control the second she sensed her child.

            “Truly,” the majestic voice continued, as if she had sensed the unintentional insult. “I must rescue our child, and I must do it as soon as possible. You and the Bison cannot travel as fast as me, and I could hurt you in my speedy travel. Follow, if you wish, but I cannot risk any further delay.”

            Mako nodded, even though deep down he was dissatisfied. He felt everyone’s eyes on him as he stood there, letting Korra take off. Everyone scrambled in the large bison cabs, interjecting frantically as if they could stop her with their pleas. Northeast. The Avatar bolted into the horizons of the Earth Nation, and the area didn’t surprise the Fire Bender at all. It sickened him.

 

 

* * *

 

            Zaheer’s face fell. Only for a brief second did he feel happiness at seeing his old friend standing in front of him, but when his mind took in his physical form, his heart flooded with sympathy. Balanced on a wooden cane, Ghazan proudly limped to meet the air-bender half way, his scarred face doing its best to smile, and Zaheer could have sworn he saw tears brimming in the lava-bender’s eyes. Zaheer wrapped his strong arms around his fragile friend, embracing in a firm hug. Ghazan returned the hug, placing his weight on his friend, since wrapping his only arm around Zaheer meant lifting his cane from the ground. Zaheer held on for a couple extra seconds, just so that he could swallow his tears so Ghazan would not see the pity in his eyes.

            “Don’t act strong for me,” Ghazan chuckled, shifting back onto his cane when the hug ended. “I draw my inspiration from our late Ming Hau. If she could live without both her arms, I can live with just one.”

            “Indeed,” Zaheer agreed, watching Ghazan limp to a set of chairs. He sat down with a heavy exhale, then tapped the second chair with his cane. Zaheer understood and sat next to him.

            “May her soul find peace,” Ghazan said courteously. Zaheer stayed silent, remembering his journeys to the Spirit World to find the reincarnation line… and P’Li...

            “How is the operation?” Zaheer said, changing the subject.

            “Well, since our order is now majorly youths, it’s large, but lacks discipline in some areas. So many young people think they’re immortal and natural born leaders,” Ghazan laughed gruffly. “They think they have the secrets to the universe and don’t like taking orders.”

            “Don’t act like you don’t remember how we were when we were young,” Zaheer said calmly.

            “Yes, of course,” Ghazan nodded, “Every generation acts the same way in all the milestones of life. Our project however, shows just how much discipline the new recruits need. While abducting Mrs. Sato, one of our young fire-benders named Yume hit the pregnant woman in the back of the head to knock her unconscious. She was so excited to continue to the next phase of the mission, apparently, that she forgot to not hit a pregnant woman. Young people. Always want to be so violent. It’s all about control…”

            “Agreed,” Zaheer said, remembering Tao’s vigorousness when breaking him out of jail. “My escort wasn’t too pleased when I would give him suggestions. However, how is Mrs. Sato?”

            “She delivered the baby a few hours ago. Apparently in the rush to deliver the baby to me, our midwife and bystanders forgot to lock the cell door. Mrs. Sato had taken advantage of this freedom, and we found her passed out a few doors down from this office. Poor woman; delirious from blood-loss and exhaustive labor, most likely. Probably thought she could take the baby away without a fight.”

            “And what are we to do with her, now that she has delivered the anomaly?” Zaheer asked, straightening in his seat.

            “Sedna, Mrs. Sato’s midwife, highly suggests that we keep her alive. She says if we are to keep this child, we should let the baby have her mother’s milk until she is old enough.”

            “I agree. We should not undervalue medical expertise,” Zaheer contemplated, “you said… she?”

            “Correct,” Ghazan nodded, “The Avatar has a daughter. Would you like to see her?”

            Without even having to respond, Ghazan shouted for Sedna, who appeared moments later with a bundle wrapped in her arms. The Southern-Water Tribe girl’s hair was pulled up, but messy, strands gently flying out of her hair tie, and on her face… well, was mistrust and fear. She stared at the two heads of her order cautiously.

            “The baby needs to eat,” she said, still keeping the baby in her arms.

            “The baby will eat later,” Ghazan retorted, “Hand the child over to Master Zaheer.”

            Hesitantly, Sedna walked closer to Zaheer, and leaned over as she gently passed the child to the air-bender’s arms. Zaheer looked at the child, and could feel the power in his hands. He could crush this baby right now. Send flesh, blood, and skull fragments spraying across the room. Reminding himself of the mission’s purpose, he controlled his anger. The Avatar may have taken everything from him, and he may have wanted to take everything from her, but this… this was enough to take the world from her: to do what they always wanted: raise the child in the order of the Red Lotus. That was the plan. He had to let go of P’Li. Let go of his desire to somehow bring her back, and take what he had in front of him.

            “I want the child under my care,” he said, watching the child squirm in his arms. “I will be her father figure.”

            “As you wish, Zaheer, but I believe I should have equal control of the child, as well. After all, I exercised this mission under my command.”

            “So be it,” Zaheer said. “She will have two fathers. She can have a mother, if her mother will comply…” the air-master watched Sedna observing him, and held the baby out to her. Instinctively, Sedna scooped the baby up back into her arms. “You will get her to comply…”

 

* * *

 

            Asami’s eyes fluttered open when she heard her cell opening. She wanted to sit up briskly, but her body was still weak, and had to shift in stages in order to sit up properly. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she saw Sedna walk in, carrying a bundle in the crook of her left arm, and an electric lantern in her right hand.

            “Is that…” Asami couldn’t say the word, as she let Sedna get closer, who nodded even though the sentence wasn’t finished.

            “Your daughter,” Sedna whispered. She placed the lantern on Asami’s end table, then handed the child over gently with both arms. Asami’s arms slightly trembled as she settled the baby into her arms. Sedna reached over to pull the swaddling cloth away from the child’s face.

            Asami let out a small chuckle, as a tear rolled down her cheek. “She looks like Korra…” The new mother traced her finger across the tan skin of her daughter’s face, then up to the short black locks of hair. The baby mumbled at the touch, and her eyes fluttered open, revealing a pair of hazel irises. “She’s beautiful,” Asami breathed, tears now streaming from her face. “Thank you, Sedna, for bringing her to me.”

            Sedna nodded quietly, watching the newborn baby and her mother. The baby squealed sharply as it wiggled in Asami’s arms, beginning to cry. “Don’t worry about her crying,” Sedna suddenly blurted out. “It’s uh… it’s important for new mothers to know that not all babies calm down in their mother’s arms. That’s all fantasy. Babies cry with everyone. She’s uh… she’s probably hungry.”

            Asami hurriedly pushed aside the fabric of her robe, this new experience of finally being with her child giving her some amount of energy, to expose one of her breasts. She readjusted how the child sat in her arms, and positioned the infant by the exposed breast. The baby instinctively took the nipple in her mouth and began to feed, making Asami’s seethe just for a quick second.

            “Breastfeeding also kind of hurts,” Sedna chuckled. The two women watched the baby suckle for a while before Sedna spoke once more. “Do you have a name?”

            Asami looked up from her child, to look Sedna blankly in the face. “We… Korra and I had only settled on a name if the child was a boy. We did not settle on a girl’s name. I will wait until Korra finds me.”

            Sedna signed at the answer. “You know I saved you, right?” She began, “The only reason why you’re holding your baby is because I told them that we needed you. If it was up to them, you would’ve been fed to the wolves already. They don’t know how to take care of a baby. They don’t know a child needs their mother. They’ve never had a child.”

            “And you have?” Asami asked absentmindedly. Sedna’s face went pale at the unexpected comment.

            “I uh…” Sedna’s eyes brimmed with tears, and Asami blushed.

            “I’m so sorry,” Asami began, “I shouldn’t assume about you… I… I didn’t know you had a child. What happe-”

            “I don’t want to talk about it,” Sedna said defensively. She exhaled to regain her composure. “Anyway… I came here to let you know that the Masters plan on keeping you, until you have run out of use. That gives you plenty of time.”

            “To do what?” Asami asked. “Escape without my child?”

            “You have no other choice if you want to live. They WILL kill you after the child does not need your milk anymore.”

            “Korra will come rescue us by then,” Asami said adamantly. “She will either rescue us, or I will rescue us. You will not win.”

            “Don’t be so bold,” Sedna frowned. “I may not believe in killing you, Mrs. Sato, but I am still loyal to our cause.”

            “What cause?” Asami raised her voice. “Sedna, you are too pure-hearted to want to support the Red Lotus.”

            “You said so just now, Mrs. Sato, that you should not make assumptions about me. You don’t know who I am.”

            The room was beginning to warm with tension, and the two women watched each other carefully as the baby continued to suckle, oblivious to the negative energy brewing in the room. But soon their tension was cut with the sound of a horn blowing in the distance. Sedna’s face grew pale once again.

            “What does that mean?” Asami asked.

            “Nothing,” Sedna blurted, tearing the baby from Asami’s chest. The infant wailed fiercely, and Asami lunged forward to recapture her child, but lacked the speed and strength.

            “Give her back to me!”

            The horn sounded again, and Sedna looked up in the direction of the call.

            “If that’s your Avatar,” Sedna warned, “You never will get her back.” And with that, she stepped out of the cell, and the door sealed behind her.

 

  


	9. Chapter 8

            Mako gritted his teeth as he whipped the reigns of the air bison, demanding it to fly faster. The bison groaned and huffed as foam began to form in the corners of its mouth, exhausted from the aggressive commands. Mako could see Korra flying off in the distance. Thank the Spirits there was a mountain range in their horizon. No doubt that was the Avatar’s destination. While he wanted to charge in with all of their allies by her side, he did feel better with knowing where exactly she seemed to be headed.

            Shuffling next to him, Varrick looked over at the foaming bison, and with a concerned eyebrow raised, said “You know, we wouldn’t have to be so cruel to these bison if you all agreed about taking some planes instead.”

            “You know why we didn’t take plans,” Mako muttered. “She was afraid she couldn’t trust anyone to be our pilot, as if someone else would be a mysterious Red Lotus member. And with Asami gone, and Zhu Li running Future Industries in Asami’s absence, there was no one really left that couldn’t be spared from the fight that’s about to happen.”

            Varrick’s face twisted for a few seconds before he sputtered, “I could do it!”

            Mako snarled his lips at the comments, answering the tycoon with silence.  

            “Mako!” a new voice made its presence known, grabbing the attention of the fire-bender. Kai was standing in the cab of the bison, as Jinora and Opal also began to stand on their feet. “Anchor the bison. You can’t keep treating them like this. I know you want to catch up with, Korra, but we can’t keep abusing the bison to do so. Anchor them. The three of us, and Tenzin, will use our flight suits to help transport everyone to Korra.”

            Mako nodded, and waived his hand in the air, signaling to the other party to prepare for landing, as the air benders took their leave.

            The landing was rough, as the exhausted bison barely had the strength to find its footing. Kai was the first to reach the ground, and hastily reached for one of the bags in the saddle, and pulled out a large canteen and a bowl, filling it with water on the ground. The air bison made its slow way over and gratefully lapped at the bowl.

            “Let’s go,” Kai said, wrapping an arm around Varrick’s shoulder (the tycoon fiddling with drapping a large satchel over his own shoulder). Jinora prepared to escort Suyin, Opal prepared with Bolin, and Tenzin partnered with Lin. Mako’s own hands fueled with fire, prepared to launch himself into the sky. “The bison are trained to follow my whistle. If we need to make a quick escape, they’ll hear me.”

            Korra had landed at the mountain range minutes before the crew, and they could all see her trying to bend the earth of the mountains because the large platinum door was impregnable. As they all came down on their own landing, they each scurried to Korra’s side.

            That Avatar was pacing reluctantly, the presence of Raava dormant; Korra had regained control of the situation, but it was obvious that she was on the verge into giving into her Avatar state. “The whole place is fenced by platinum,” she grumbled.

            Bolin stepped forward to see the earthen wall Korra had caved in, and sure enough, underneath dust and crumbling rocks was sheen platinum. “Well how did they do that?” he wondered. “They build a fortress inside a mountain?” Bolin scratched his head as he tried to drown out Korra’s huffs of breath, sounding like a bull ready to charge. “Or, perhaps,” Bolin continued, “They build the fortress at the side of the mountain range generations ago out of pure platinum, and then used earth bending to camouflage the fortress with the mounting. Throughout time, the bending eventually morphed into the mountain, naturally…”

            “Good thinking, Bolin,” Varrick piped up, enthusiastic as ever. “However, we still have a platinum fortress to break into. Whether we remove all the rock to reveal the fortress in its original state… we still have platinum to get through.”

            “Any suggestions?” Korra gritted through her teeth.

            “Yes,” Varrick said, triumphantly. “You see, after you and Asami had returned from your vacation into the spirit world and gone back to business as usual, Asami’s first project, aside from rebuilding the city of course, was to make sure the world never faces a platinum menace ever again. So she enlisted me and Zhu-Li to make special little engineer gadgets. These.” He reached into his bulky satchel and pulled out a device that looked a blow-torch. “We compacted the rays of our heroic hummingbird suits into these. The name is still under-review, but for now, let’s just call them platinum-torches.” Mako reached for it, but Varrick held it back. “It would be essential for me to use it first, seeing as how I’m the only one who knows how to operate them.”

            “It can’t be that hard,” said Mako.

            “It isn’t, but it’s still dangerous. Watch and learn, and then you can use it yourself.” Varrick walked over to platinum door and powered up the device. The white light emitting from the flame immediately cut through the metal like melted butter, yet only among the initial puncture mark. He still had to cut open a hole large enough for the crew to go through.

            “Stand next to the opening you’re cutting, Varrick, not in front of it,” instructed the impatient Korra. “Just in case… just in case they’re ready to fire once that platinum comes down.” There was no mistaking the tension radiating from Korra, and the heat from the plasma platinum torches just added to the warm atmosphere. There was a peculiar smell from the platinum turning into soft metal as the plasma cut through it, and soon, Varrick’s opening in the door was almost full circle, and the team took position, guard on high alert for the metal to drop down.

            The sound of the platinum falling down and echoing down the corridor could not be described, as the team looked down the stark gloomy hallway of the sanctuary.

            “Where is everyone?” Opal asked, breaking the silence. She stood tall next to her makeshift squad of airbenderes: Tenzin, Jinora, and Kai by her side.

            “Waiting for us,” Korra grumbled.

            “There’s a trap up ahead, no doubt,” Lin addressed, “They wouldn’t let us walk through so easily if not. Keep up your guard.”

            “Varrick,” Mako said, “Go return to the bison. You won’t be able to fight against them.”

            “I’ve done it before!” Varrick protested, his voice traveling down the corridor.

            “That’s right,” Bolin supported.

            “Fine,” Mako nodded, but stick behind someone. If you’re gonna join us, we’ll need your gadgets.”

            “Don’t worry, Varrick,” Bolin patted the inventor’s back. “I know what you’re capable of. Stay by me.”

            Tenzin quickly jogged up to Korra to stand by her side, “Remember to focus, Korra. Keep a clear mind, or we could fall into any trap.”

            At the end of the hallway, there was a trident path available: three main hallways, one straight ahead, one to the left, and the other to the right.

            “Should we split up?” Kai asked?

            “I don’t like that idea,” Lin shared. “Splitting us up divides our power of numbers.”

            “And staying collected gives the enemy a chance to wipe us all out at once.” Varrick responded.

            “We’ll split,” Korra decided. The group was silent at this, and everyone shifted their eyes around, silently communicating with each other.

            “But what if you get trapped like last time?” Mako asked, breaking the tension.

            “I won’t be going alone,” Korra said, sounding almost collected for the first time in a while. “We will split in teams, as evenly as possible.”

            “Sounds like a better plan now,” Lin nodded. “But your team should be larger, since you are the most crucial person here.”

            “You’re all important,” Korra rebuttled. “But I agree about the team size. Granted they want to isolate me, so having more on my team is a good idea. Varrick, Bolin, and Opal, you go take the left. Mako, Tenzin, Lin and I will continue on ahead. Suyin, Kai, and Jinora, you take the right.”

            Everyone nodded their agreement and shared brief wishes of luck upon each other before descending down their paths.

 

* * *

 

            “We need to split them up,” Ghazan said, limping quickly on his cane as he tried to catch up with Zaheer, who was walking across the room with vigor. He opened a wardrobe against the wall and pushed back the clothing hanging on the rack inside, revealing a loose panel. He pushed the panel aside and the cool air from the small cave opening on the other side breezed through their hair.

            “Sedna may be right about keeping the mother, but we can sacrifice her if need be. There are formulas out there to feed infants. Bait them with Mrs. Sato.”

            “I agree,” Zaheer said, his voice sounding scratchy. “Our priority is escaping with the infant. Next on the list is eliminating our threat. What better way than trapping the enemy? We’ll lure the Avatar and trick her mind. Tzu! Yume! Tao!”

            The three disciples entered the room and curtsied. “Yes, Master Zaheer?” they asked in unison.

            “I need you to split and lead some followers down the hallways. From here on out, you are lieutenants. Yume takes the left wing, and bait Asami Sato there. Tzu, take the right wing. And Tao, you will go with me, Sedna, the child, and Master Ghazan through this cave path. We will all fight to achieve our goal. Yume and Tzu, when you destroy your enemies in that wing, you know how to escape and where we are going.”

            “Yes, Master Zaheer.” The three chanted, and dispersed to follow their orders.

 

* * *

 

            They had walked for quite some time down their corridor before Bolin started to really feel tension in is body. Where was everyone?

            “Maybe they evacuated before we arrived?” suggested Varrick.

            “I don’t think so…” Opal whispered, hands ready for combat as they continued slowly down the dark path. “Korra wouldn’t have stayed by the sanctuary entrance for long if she didn’t sense her baby… they’re here… somewhere…”

            “Well, if we’re gonna keep walking through this dark building, I’m gonna at least give us some light,” said Varrick, and with a click, a beam of light shown down the corridor from a flashlight he had pulled from his bag.

            “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” said Opal, “The light might let them know we’re here.”

            “They already know we’re here-”

            “Look!” at the end of the corridor, it turned to the left again, and thanks to the flashlight, they say someone run away. “That way!”

            The three ran down the hall and turned sharply to the left again and Varrick made sure to keep his light on their target.

            “Stop!” Bolin commanded. He raised his hands up with power, and tried to raise the earth from beneath the enemy’s feet, but was not fast enough. The hallway was now full of the sounds of their frantic footsteps and shouts. Soon they all halted on their heels when the three had followed the person into a room.

            Face to face, Varrick, Bolin and Opal stood tall, yet felt like ants as they realized their dilemma: three versus at least twenty. Right into a trap.

            “Thank you for being so easy to catch,” said a young firebender female, with her hands proudly on her hips. “I hope my collegues have an equally easy time trapping your other teammates. But since your team does not involve the Avatar, I will be taking my leave and my team will deal with you. Let me take my things and go,” Yume pulled a bound woman from the ground, and the three gasped.

            “Asami!” Bolin cried out, seeing the inventor completely exhausted of energy, barely able to stand long on her own. Her eyes were red from fear or exhaustion, or simply surrender.

            “Don’t come after me!” Asami shouted.

            “Alright, that’s enough,” Yume smiled, “time to go. Followers, see that our purpose prevails. Destroy these three.” And with that she dragged a stumbling Asami besides her as the Red Lotus members crowded around in front of them, keeping their escape out of view from the rescuers.

            “You’re not getting away!” bellowed Bolin, his voice projecting like a true hero, and lead his small crew into combat behind him as they clashed with the Lotus.

 

* * *

 

            Korra was losing patience, as their trek down their designated hall was just as eerily quiet and uneventful, but as if an answer from the heavens, the silent maze was interrupted… by a baby’s cry.

            It was an instant change, as Raava took over and sent Korra practically flying down the hall, leaving Mako, Lin, and Tenzin to chase after her.

            “Korra, wait up!!!” They all sprinted as best they could, and eventually caught up. Korra had made her way into what seemed to be an office room, and Korra had already torn the furniture apart. As the wardrobe in the corner came down, the Avatar’s company could’ve sworn they heard a growl emanate from Korra’s throat.

            “A tunnel,” Lin said for everyone. Korra bolted down the small entrance, crashing into the rock that came into contact with her shoulders, and the rest followed after her.

            “The child must be up ahead. I kinda wish we didn’t split up after all.” Mako confessed, feeling a sharp pain in his side from breathing incorrectly during his sprint.

            “Only if Asami isn’t with the baby,” Tenzin said. “If she’s not where we’re about to end up, at least we know the other teams may rescue her too.”

            “Zaheer!” shouted the divine voice of Raava. Far up ahead in the tunnel, the Air bender turned around and made eye contact with the Avatar, and wrapped in his arms was a swaddled cloth. “Release my child now; this is your only warning.”

            “I don’t think so,” grumbled the air bender. With him was a group of guards, as expected, who turned on their heels and took charge. At the front of the charge was Tao. Coming up behind the Avatar was Mako, Lin, and Tenzin.

            There wasn’t even time for the two forces to collide, as the tunnel became crowded with multiple forms of bending: electricity from Mako, strong gusts of wind from Tenzin, and Lin’s cables flying forward to whip its foes clean cuts across the face. But that didn’t stop the collage of bending from the Red Lotus, as they resisted with equal prowess.  Consumed by all the smoke and debris of the ongoing battle, the Avatar’s team could barely see five feet ahead of them, as they threw blind punches of bending, praying that their blind efforts would be fruitful. This also meant that they temporarily lost sight of Korra.

            “Move forward!” Mako shouted, hoping that if they drew the battle further up the tunnel that they would cross Korra’s warpath, but his progression was cut short as a small boulder cracked against his temple, stumbling the firebender. Blood streamed from the open wound, and he could feel the dust sticking to the wound as he tried to continue walking through the debris.  

            “Korra!” he called out, but received no response. Instead, he ran into someone. Taking a second to assess the situation, he found himself face to face with one of the Red Lotus’s lieutenants, Tao. They both realized who they were facing in the same instant, and fire met rock. Mako was relentless in his assault, but failed every shot as the earthbender took a completely defensive play.

            “Don’t let him tire you!” shouted Tenzin, who caught sight of the duel while dealing with his one foes. Mako dropped his attacks, and watched the earthbender study him for a few seconds.

            “Big mistake to stop,” Tao said. He raised his hands up in the blink of an eye and trapped Mako in a cage of earth, leaving his head free. “I learned from the best,” he smirked. It should’ve crossed Mako’s mind that the Red Lotus trained in similar combat moves, and that trapping him like Asami and Korra were trapped years ago would still be a card in their hand. Resistant to defeat, Mako resorted to fire-breathing, keeping Tao away from him. “I was gonna be merciful and leave you trapped there, but since you’re such a pest, I guess you leave me no choice.”

            He raised his hands once more, and his fingers slowly clenched, and the rock cage began to tighten, and Mako felt his body tense with the pressure of the crushing rock. Tao was doing it wickedly slow, most likely relishing in the kill. Mako couldn’t move, and the pain was so much he couldn’t focus on fire-breathing anymore; and just cried out in pain as he felt some ribs and the bones in his arms crack.

            Instantly, Tao falls backwards, the pressure on Mako’s body coming to a halt, and as Mako regains some consciousness, witnessed Tao wriggling around on the floor, with his hands up to his neck, where a black cord was wrapped tightly around it. Lin, at least ten feet away, was focusing her metal cables around the lieutenant’s neck, strangling him to death. As Tao jerked with the last energy of his life, Lin let the cables go and quickly pulled down Mako’s cage with her earth-bending. He fell down quickly, groaning as his broken body dropped to the solid ground. Lin ran up to him, trying to sit him up against the tunnel wall.

            “You’re out of this fight, kid,” she said sympathetically. “We’ll come back for you,” and with that, she got back up and charged back into the fight, progressing further into the tunnel.

            Up ahead, Korra and Zaheer were locked into a reprise of their legendary duel. The Avatar, glowing bright light out of the flesh of Korra’s body, came crashing through everything and everyone, not letting anyone get in her way. With the swaddling cloth close to his chest, Zaheer used his air-bending to travel just as face down the tunnel, trying to keep pace with other Red Lotus members, who were far ahead of him in the evacuation. Running out of patience, the Avatar vigorously brought her arms together, pulling down the rock in the tunnel in front of Zaheer, trapping him in a dead end. In one last desperate attempt, he waved his free hand around to create the suffocating cyclone he had performed on Korra years past, but he was too late, as Korra came crashing into him. Slamming his back against the fallen rock, the divine being reached down gently for the swaddling cloth, only for it to unravel and reveal… nothing.

            Korra’s eyes returned to her normal hue of blue, and panic and confusion flooded her soul. She looked around frantically, wondering if she accidently sent the child out of his arms in her attack.

            “Oldest trick in the book, Avatar.” Zaheer wheezed, blood at the corner of his lips. “A decoy. Your real child is actually far up ahead in the tunnel, which you just sealed off.”

            Korra jerked him up from the ground by the collar of his shirt, disdain now the dominant emotion on her face.

            “So, you have a choice,” the air-bender sputtered, “Waste time killing me, or catching up now while you can. You can’t do both.”

            Staring him down, Korra studied his face, and whispered maliciously “Yes, I can…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank for being so patient!  
> I have a bad cold, and I really wanted to crank this out by the end of the week, regardless. Now.... I finally get to nap lol  
> Also, please check out my other Korrasami fic "Disobeying Destiny", which I also plan on updating some time soon. If you like AUs, hit it up. I'd really appreciate some extra love there :)


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